James Bond: Reflections of Death

James Bond (Dynamite Entertainment) #11

by Gail Simone, Andy Diggle, Benjamin Percy

Six stunning stories, featuring the world's greatest spy! Moneypenny has been kidnapped, and the mystery of who has her, and what they want, will only be revealed when (if?) 007 is able to complete his incredible missions.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Thriller, Espionage, Comic Book, Crime

128 pages, Hardcover

First published September 29, 2020

About the author

Gail Simone is a comic book writer well-known for her work on Birds of Prey (DC), Wonder Woman (DC), and Deadpool (Marvel), among others, and has also written humorous and critical commentary on comics and the comics industry such as the original "Women in Refrigerators" website and a regular column called "You'll All Be Sorry".

Reviews

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume is part of the Dynamite Original stories about James Bond, and it has a pretty uninteresting premise: Moneypenny is kidnapped by men who want information about Bond. These bad men give her truth serum and so all the six short stories in the volume are told by Moneypenny to her captors. Maybe the effort to link the stories within the story is a better idea than just a simple story collection, but the stories are told by Moneypenny, and there doesn’t seem to be anything distinctively Moneypenny about them. Though most of them are still good enough to read for sheer quick Bond-ing.

This series of shorter (usually too short) stories are written and illustrated by different teams: “The Broker” (Ayala, Lore, Perez, Diaz), “The Rare Dinner” (Percy, Baal, Woods), “The Oddest Job” (Pak, Kotz, Diaz), “One Pistol, Three Silencers” (Simone, Marron, Kelly), “Men Without a Country” (Russell, Carey, Kurichiyamil), and “The Hook” (Diggle, Casalanguida, Woods) so the writing and art quality vary pretty widely. Maybe I like the Diggle story best. The stories do link to other Dynamite volumes, such as the Odd Job stories Pak did. As the stories are being told, Bond of course is racing to rescue her. And does he in fact rescue her?! Guess you’re gonna have to read it to find out! But if you are a Bond fan/collector, you will want to take a look at it. It's good enough, just not great. And the fine cover leads you to think there will be sinister and sexy Bond "girls" ( as they were called re Bond movies back in the sixties. . . okay, women!). And you would not be wrong, though the center of the stories generally is another kind of action, with guns.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Six new adventures for 007 have only a somewhat tenuous link in the shape of Eve Moneypenny being kidnapped.
The first story, The Broker, is extremely weak & silly. In fact it's more like a poorly written spy spoof than a serious story. Thankfully the other five stories are far better, with James Bond on a variety of tough & violent assignments at home & abroard.
It's fast paced storytelling with plenty of decent artwork, & while the release of No Time To Die at the cinema is delayed once again it's nice to have some new adventures for the world's greatest secret agent.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dynamite brings in some big comic book writers for these James Bond one-shots tied together by a framing sequence by Vita Ayala and Danny Lore. Andy Diggle, Greg Pak, Gail Simone, Mark Russell, and Benjamin Percy all write stories. None of the stories really aspire to greatness though. I like how some of them reference previous James Bond Dynamite comics. The art in this is so-so.

[Khurram · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bond tales

A good book of short stories from James Bond's past. With a thread to the present. It is interesting how the different creative teams see Bond or highlight different aspects of him.

Moneypenny has been kidnapped and drugged she recounts tales about James Bond. What he thinks about his colleagues and how much he cares for people he considers friends and family. How mercilessly and ruthlessly he will protect them. Even how he might go off script for if he does not believe the orders are wrong. All the while, Bond is looking for Moneypenny in the present.

A good set of stories, they do give a bit more insight into Bond's past and the loves and betrayals that have made him the man he is today. A good all round set of stories.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Similar to the previous collection, The Body, in that it is a series of short stories all featuring Bond, which are being told by Moneypenny to her captors, after she was kidnapped. Unfortunately, these aren't particularly good stories (a couple aren't bad, but on the whole, they're pretty pedestrian), and there isn't a nice running theme connecting them like in The Body. Still, if you're a James Bond fan, there are worse ways to spend your time...

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

This title was meant to be released around the release of the Craig movie "No Time to Die" before the movie due to some pandemic got delayed in its release and so this graphic novel got delayed as well. So now the movie got delayed again and retitled You move only twice (a joke for 007 fans) but we still got the release of this title.

The bad news is that it reminded me of why I quit reading the Dynamite 007 comics because they just bored the pants off me. And this book is also not a very good story and its parts make no really interesting tale to read. I am quite sure it is not very Fleming-esque and neither is it even remotely EON, and as its own identity it is a wee bit bland.

I wait for the next Dynamite version of the next 007 story with Casino Royale and Live and let die being pretty good I expect Moonraker to be pretty interesting again.

This is one graphic novel to have read and then gather dust on the bookshelves, a fan does not throw away 007 stuff and does not use the Craig emo Bond era blurays as toasters either.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moneypenny's being held captive by a villain who requires...James Bond short stories. It's an oddly contrived narrative setup. Why not just have a volume of Bond shorts without the framing device? The stories in Reflections of Death aren't really tied together in any way. On their own, they're often quite good.

James Bond in a Russian prison had a neat twist. James Bond taking Felix Leiter's daughter to prom was quite cute. The others weren't all that memorable, I guess, but they also weren't bad. The art was competent throughout. But with the framing device, the stories often melded together, making it hard to tell when a new one had begun.

[Judah Radd · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s not bad, but it’s definitely not James Bond. The art was cool, there was some enjoyable vignettes... but as a guy who not only read all of the Fleming novels (and some of the Gardner and Benson novels) as well as having seen every Bond film many times... I have to say that this character simply wasn’t recognizable as any incarnation of 007.

Again, still some decent storytelling... just not really what I paid for.

[Robert · Rating 1 out of 5]

Half the book is wasted on JB chaperoning Felix's daughter ?!? and her hideously drawn boyfriend for an evening rather than doing his job to protect the secrets of Queen and country. The rest is taken up with weird short stories and a framing piece that makes less sense the more you think about it.

[Rob Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable look at Bond's life when he's not completing a big mission.
Moneypenny's kidnap acts as a good hook to link the other smaller stories contained within.

[Iain · Rating 3 out of 5]

A slim and varied collection with an interesting premise. The central story has Moneypenny kidnapped and 007 must rescue her. Interwoven are 5 stories featuring Bond, each written and drawn by a different team. This unfortunately leads to varied artwork and writing that never feels like a coherent collection. Interesting idea, but ultimately unsatisfactory. One for completists and 007 fans.

[Donald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moneypenny has been kidnapped and drugged and ordered to tell stories about 007.
These are her stories…

I enjoyed “One Pistol, Three Silencers” the most, with Bond playing the caring uncle to Felix Leiter’s daughter as she attends her prom. A ‘sweet’ side of 007 that rarely comes out! I also enjoyed how tough Moneypenny is in these books!

In addition to those previously mentioned, the new Odd Job,003 and SMERSH appear on these pages. Sort of a James Bond Greatest Hits!

My only negative is that I don't like cliffhanger endings, and that's how the last story, "The Broker", ends. I hope that it is followed up, otherwise, grrrr...

[Ricardo Nuno Silva · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn't looking to read this particular graphic novel, but the slightly "vintage" art style of the cover caught my eye.
Well, I should say that once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. Yup, really.
There's a central thrilling plot (that I won't explain) that serves to recount a few "life episodes" of Bond, each one equally fast paced and fascinating.
I really enjoyed the different artistic styles, very well suited for each "episode".
I highly recommend this book.

[Joe Bogue · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Really liked most of the shorts. Nearly all of them had a "Fleming" feel to their stories. This was a nice surprise, as much of Dynamite's Bond series have been closer to generic action with a 007 skin over it. My biggest complaint was that halfway through, the main storyline (that the shorts stem off of) stopped making sense.

Like, were Bond & Moneypenny beforehand or reacting to the situation? Why did Bond even need to be in the main thread at all? This confusion really spoiled the climax for me and made the conclusion too ambiguous.

[Jesse A · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad just no real through line in the whole book.

[Donovan Mayne-Nicholls]

This anthology turned out to be absolutely disappointing. The framing device is adequate and is more than I expected from Misses Ayala and Lore after their amateurly written series but there's no meat in this volume. Benjamin Percy (Black Box) contributes a one-note joke of a story. Zero plot to speak of and lots of panning with unremarkable action artwork. The agenda starts to creep in early with an all female CIA team which is risible. Greg Pak's story is a continuation of his Oddjob series (doesn't the man have any original ideas?). I fail to discern any talent whatsoever in his efforts. If the salary of such people depended on punters actually buying their stuff, I guess Mr Pak would be living under a bridge. Then there's Gail Simone, whom I hadn't experienced before. Suffice to say that the answer to how good can a hairdresser be as a comic book writer couldn't be plainer. She has accomplished in little over ten pages what I thought was impossible: to write a worse Bond than Raymond Benson. Mark Russel's story has some interesting ideas (the previous three have absolutely none) but it's riddled with liberal propaganda and the vomit-inducing artwork by Robert Carey does not help either! The collection's only saving grace turns out to be Andy Diggle's story, which is more of a coda to his previous James Bond series and will remain buried in a volume that should be skipped by all means. Hopefully dynmaite will stop for good after this one and James Bond WILL NOT return.

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one it was tying some of the other books together which was nice. I am sad that i didnt read the others first but this one was due back at the library!

Fun read for James bond fans it is a good one about Money Penny and it incorporates a bunch of different stories and a really good one with Felix.

Definitely would recommend!

[Jefferson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Dynamite James Bond have been consistently excellent from the get-go, and this one is no exception.

[Joseph R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

James Bond is on the go in a six-chapter story with a different artistic team for each chapter!

"The Broker" script by Vita Ayala and Danny Lore, art by Jordi Perez, and color by Kike J. Diaz

Miss Moneypenny is kidnapped by someone who wants to get information out of her, specifically about James Bond. She has some training but the kidnappers have a new drug that should work wonders on her free will. The kidnapper asks for stories about Bond, so we get the following ones, interspersed with more of the Moneypenny plot.

"The Rare Dinner" script by Benjamin Percy, art by Kewber Baal, and color by Celeste Woods

Bond is in France trying to round up some Russian gangsters at a posh restaurant. He's found a gorgeous redhead to dine with though he keeps excusing himself as one after another of the gangsters go to the bathroom. In the loo, Bond has a string of fights, leaving the gangsters knocked out in stalls for a clean-up crew to come and finish the job. The end has a nice twist that is classic Bond.

"The Oddest Job" script by Greg Pak, art by Dean Kotz, and color by Kike J. Diaz

In the Moneypenny plot, Bond has realized that she is in trouble and picks up some tech from Q to go get here. The backstory about Bond follows him on a day off after he's killed an operative at the United Nations. He walks about Manhattan at night and runs into an old acquaintance. They talk about the old days over dinner and practice their threat analysis on customers. When they are done, Bond and his friend follow a suspicious and glamorous blonde to a karaoke bar where a twist happens. It's another interesting story.

"One Pistol, Three Silencers" script by Gail Simone, art by Eoin Marron, and color by Dearbhla Kelly

Bond gets drawn in by Felix Leiter to keep his family safe while Felix is targeted by his own CIA. Bond's assignment: watch over Felix's daughter as she goes to her high school prom. Naturally, modern kids don't have the style Bond is accustomed to and he makes his own opinions felt. The story has a much more sentimental Bond than most people are used to. It was interesting but off-brand for 007.

"Men Without a Country" script by Mark Russell, art by Robert Carey, and color by Roshan Kurichiyanil

Acknowledging the weirdness of Bond's sentimentality in the last story, Moneypenny and the kidnapper move on to another story, this time with Bond retrieving Agent 003 from an isolated and dangerous Russian prison. It's a bit more character development for Bond leading into the final chapter.

"The Hook" script by Andy Diggle, art by Luca Casalanguida, and color by Celeste Woods

Present-day Bond is on the verge of finding Moneypenny, who has been kidnapped by [REDACTED], involved in a larger plot involving corruption at MI6. There's a mole in M's branch of the secret service and Moneypenny is being set up for the fall. Things don't turn out that way, because for all of the less-than-Bondish behavior, the story still ends like a James Bond story.


The book is meant to showcase a variety of artists (writers and illustrators) in a larger story. The overall format works well but the individual stories are more or less entertaining. It is interesting to have some focus on Moneypenny, who is usually little more than a cameo in many Bond films. As a reader, I am not quite convinced by every tale, so I give it a mixed rating.

Mildly recommended--it depends how serious of a Bond fan you are, how much you can put up with the stretches to his character.

[Darcy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting compilation of stories told around a central vantage point. Miss Moneypenny is abducted, drugged and interrogated regarding her knowledge of all things Bond, James Bond. Throughout her ordeal she relates tales dealing with different aspects of 007's character that are authored by Vita Ayala & Dann Lore, Benjamin Percy, Greg Pak, Gail Simone, Mark Russell and Andy Diggle. The artistic chores are handled by Jordi Perez, Kewber Baal, Dean Kotz, Eoin Marron, Robert Carey and Luca Casalunguida. Of course the scripts by Pak and Diggle are superb, as always, but the rest of the team do a good job to. I would think that telling a short Bond story is no easy task, but each entry stands on its own and accomplishes its ends. I will tell you that Greg Pak brings back John Lee and this is my favorite tale of a terrific bunch.

I go on and on about Dynamite's quality, however this time I did find a typographical error at the back of the book, so there! Still, that certainly does not detract and this is another pride of place volume for my bookshelf. I am starting to think that the Indiana Jones license should go to Dynamite as they would certainly care for it in the same way they have dealt with the Bond trademark. (This is not a shot at Dark Horse, it is just a nudge to get some content produced!) I digress. Good art, compelling stories, lots of action, and a glimpse into what makes our favorite secret agent tick. Well worth your time to take a look.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just saw "No Time to Die," and needed another hit of Bond when I picked this up. It's not bad, but the art is disappointing in several places. Bond often appears a bit plain and thuggish, and Bond should always be smooth and suave, even when he's been blown up, burned, and punched in the face a few times.

One of the stories features bond as a protective uncle. I felt that really didn't work. Bond might be the kind of guy who pulls a kid out of a burning orphanage, tips his shoe shine boy generously, or gets a bully to back off. he is not a guy who gets emotionally involved with the children of his spy colleagues.

The villains here were were lame. None were memorable, none were menacing.

Odd Job was recycled into a Korean 00 playing for the good guys. I'm not sure how I feel about that.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

A series of shorter stories written and illustrated by different teams: The Broker (Ayala, Lore, Perez, Diaz) The Rare Dinner (Percy, Baal, Woods), The Oddest Job (Pak, Kotz, Diaz), One Pistol, Three Silencers (Simone, Marron, Kelly), Men Without a Country (Russell, Carey, Kurichiyamil), and The Hook (Diggle, Casalanguida, Woods). Each of these stories are about Bond and told by Moneypenny to her captors while under the influence of truth serum as Bond races to reunite with her. Great use of art and words to carry the story along and ties to other Dynamite Bond stories involving the CIA, the new Odd Job, Felix Lighter and the British intelligence community made this an entertaining read.

[Brandon Nichols · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fine outing from the James Bond series. This one was a series of disconnected stories and therefore you got some good with the bad. I liked it just fine, but what was the problem with how they started out?

They used to give 5-6 issue storylines that were ornate and tied up well, like the Bond films themselves. These vignettes, good or bad, just don't have the same feeling because we don't live in them long enough to get invested in the stories.

I miss Black Box, Vargr and the others.

Give me some more of that.

[Alex Sarll]

An anthology with six creative teams providing vignettes of 007's bloody career. Several have already contributed to Dynamite's Bond line; Diggle and Casalanguida in particular reminded me how viciously suited to the brief they were. Of the newcomers, nobody offers anything terribly innovative, not even Mark Russell. But if the collection as a whole occasionally leans a little sentimental, it at least has more consistent art than Dynamite have sometimes stretched to, and even no-frills basic Bond is much preferable to whatever's been happening on screen this century.

[Peter Evett · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. This is really hurt by the changing artists and writers. Admittedly I tend to come and go while reading most graphic novels (sort of reading them as the series of comics they originally were - although over days instead of months), so confusion becomes more possible. But both the writing and art lended to forgetableness: bland fights that all looked samey, Bond thinking - but his appearance and thought styles changing. It was fine, but I don't have time for fine, I want very good at the least.

[Rob McMonigal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moneypenny "gives up" info on James Bond under duress, letting a wide variety of creators get a shot at telling a short Bond comics story. The frame doesn't really do anything because you know Moneypenny can't be THAT helpless in a modern tale (hell, she wasn't in the early movies) so there's a method to the madness going on. Fun to see people like Pak and Simone get a crack at the wheel. The stories aren't amazing, but they're fun and really do work within the Dynamite Bond era.

[Neil Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a bit of a slow burner and although the 2nd half of the book was more gripping I do think that the storyline was not one of the dynamite series best efforts.

The fight scenes were probably the best sketches of the lot and it was good that Moneypenny played such a big part in the story too.

All in all it was an enjoyable comic and would still encourage fans of the series/James Bond to give it a read.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Series of short stories surrounding Bond as told by Moneypenny while she is held captive. The villain gives her a truth serum to make her divulge stories about Bond. They seem to cover all the bases: seduces a women, tries to rescue 003, Felix Leiter shows up in one, etc. Most were interesting, but didn’t cover anything new.

[Ron · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just couldn't finish it.

It seemed a bit confusing

The facial artwork for bond varied from artist to artist, and at times it seemed like it was a different character.

I made it through one or two stories and just couldn't finish it. It was becoming a chore.

[Kurt Lorenz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Broker, ☆☆☆☆
The Rare Dinner, ☆☆☆☆
The Oddest Job, ☆☆☆☆
One Pistol, Three Silencers, ☆☆☆
Men Without A Country, ☆☆☆
The Hook, ☆☆☆☆